Uncategorized | June 9, 2009
At the Wyoming Writers, Inc., membership meeting Sunday morning in Casper, the members voted to change its governing structure.
For most of its 35 years, WWInc operated with a slate of volunteer officers elected at each annual conference. It included a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and five members-at-large (MAL), each representing 4-5 Wyoming counties.
That structure proved to be unwieldy in an era in which people are mobile and communicate mainly through electronic means. There’s no need, for instance, for geography-based MALs when members go right to the source of organizational info, whether it’s on the web, e-mailed newsletters, or the new listserv.
The four officers were bound by bylaws that were rigid and constricting. The organization lost many officers during the past five years, and the bylaws made it tough to get replacements.
At the 2008 WWInc conference, members approved a resolution by Joe Megeath to from a committee that would come up with ideas for a new structure. That committee was named the Organization Restructuring Committee which was almost as unwieldy as the structure itself. I volunteered to lead the committee and renamed it ORC in honor of the creatures in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The ORC committee members were not nearly as ugly and brutal as our namesakes, but we did have to make some tough choices. We forwarded our recommendations to the board meeting and discussed them June 5 in Casper.
Thanks to all the ORCs who participated in online meetings and fired off tons of suggestions via e-mail and by phone. They were Nancy Curtis, Glendo; Joe Megeath, Denver (formerly from Lander); Katie Smith, Sundance; John Beach, Denver (long-time Rock Springs resident); Pat Frolander, Sundance; Phyllis Dugan, Thayne; Midge Farmer, Gillette; Gaydell Collier, Sundance; Chris Williams, somewhere in Idaho; and yours truly. WWInc Prez Jeanne Rogers was an interested bystander.
So, WWInc members first voted for a change in bylaws that replaced the officer structure with a governing board. The only board position would be immediate past president, which in this case is Jeanne Rogers, WWInc’s fearless leader for the past year. A slate of seven other members ran for the six remaining spots. The newly elected board includes Jeanne, Ann Heberlein, Casper; Julianne Couch, Laramie; Pat Frolander, Sundance; Katie Smith, Sundance; Joe Megeath, Denver; and Mike Shay, Cheyenne.
We spent three hours after the conference revising the bylaws. And that’s just the beginning. Look for more updates from the board in the usual WWInc news outlets. Stay tuned…
The Wyoming Arts Council believes that experiencing the arts should be accessible for all, including people with mental and/or physical disabilities, older adults, military/veterans, people living in institutions and those who lack access to the arts due to geographic isolation, cultural difference and economic hardship.
